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Jennifer Higdon was born in Brooklyn in 1962 and has dedicated her life to composing new music. Her parents, Charles Kenneth Higdon and Judy Higdon, were rock ‘n roll fans. So, she didn’t grow up in a particularly classical music household. Jennifer is an incredibly prolific composer based in Philadelphia. “Blue Cathedral” is her most performed work to date, a piece Jennifer wrote to honour her younger brother Andrew Blue Higdon who died from skin cancer in 1998 at age 33. On this video, we speak about Jennifer’s early years when she took up flute lessons and listened to lots of rock, pop, folk, blue grass & country music, being The Beattles her band of reference. If you wish to know about Jennifer’s projects and career, please visit her webpage: http://jenniferhigdon.com. Apart from her fabulous talent as a composer (something anyone can just check by listening to her music), the thing that captivated me the most while we were having our “virtual coffee” was her true kindness, and I really mean it, because she really walks the talk… Previous “A Coffee with…” guests were: the conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter and accordionist Iñaki Alberdi, the composer & music critic Robert Hugill, the bass singer & lutenist Joel Frederiksen, the conductor Cristóbal Soler, the music agent Andreea Butucariu and musicologist, the musicologist & cornetto player Bruce Dickey, the orchestra conductor Mei-Ann Chen and the musicologist and director of the early music ensemble “O bando de surunyo” Hugo Sanches. If you want to see those “virtual coffees”, please click on 10 Musical Coffees to Remember. Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium
Then, when the series of weekly concerts was called to an end, we started with a series of “virtual coffees” entitled “A Coffee With…”. No-one either would have said that we could reach out that far. So far, my guests have been 10 personalities of the music world: the choir master & orchestra conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter, the accordionist Iñaki Alberdi, the composer & music critic Robert Hugill, the bass singer & lutenist Joel Frederiksen, the orchestra conductor Cristóbal Soler, the music & artist agent Andreea Butucariu, the musicologist & cornetto player Bruce Dickey, the orchestra conductor Mei-Ann Chen and Hugo Sanches, musicologist & director of the early music ensemble O bando de surunyo. To all of them, my sincerest gratitude. I learnt a lot from them and, above all, I really enjoyed our conversations over coffee. Here you are the list of the 10 first coffees of the series “A coffee with”:
I don’t know for how long these aromatic “virtual coffees”. Neither I know how far I will reach in this musical adventure. My intention is to talk about music and make it easier for people to get know the artists in a more laid-back way, but not less rigorously informative. I guess I will go as far as to where my intention and the love of those helping me will take me… Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium
Hugo Sanches was born in Porto and has dedicated his life to the research, diffusion and performance of early music, especially Iberia (Portugal & Spain) early music. I met Hugo in 2019 during the International Music Festival Abvlensis, in Avila, Spain. Their performance was so fabulous that it was impossible for me not to have a coffee with Hugo and speak about O bando de surunyo. In our virtual conversation over coffee, we speak about Hugo’s early years when he took up the electric guitar because he wanted to play in a rock band until things evolved towards the field of early music. We also speak about his studies at the College of Music ESMAE of Porto and at the University of Coimbra, where there is a library, Biblioteca Joanina, with over 2.500 music manuscripts. Previous “Coffee with…” guests were: the conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter and accordionist Iñaki Alberdi, the composer & music critic Robert Hugill, the bass singer & lutenist Joel Frederiksen, the conductor Cristóbal Soler, the music agent Andreea Butucariu, the musicologist & cornetto player Bruce Dickey and the orchestra conductor Mei-Ann Chen. Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium
Mei-Ann Chen has been living in the United States since 1989. She was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. As a child she learnt how to play the violin, the piano and also taught herself how to play the trumpet. However, from a very early stage, she always knew she wanted to become an orchestra conductor. Mei-Ann learnt some conducting skills from Henri Mazer. After an audition in the basement of a hotel, the conductor Benjamin Zander granted her a scholarship and gave her the opportunity to move to the United States, where she continued with her musical studies to become a conductor. It was in Madrid, where she had her unofficial debut conducting a movement of the 5th Symphony by Gustav Mahler (an anecdote she explains on the video; don’t miss that out!). Currently she is the principal of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the principal guest conductor of the Grosses Orchester Graz. During our virtual coffee, we speak about the early years of Mei-Ann as a student and how everything went on until she became an orchestra conductor. For me it was a really interesting “conversation over coffee”. I can tell Mei-Ann is a woman full of energy, really, really enthusiastic, tremendously hard-working and a great leader. Some of the names she mentions on the video are: Henry Mazer, Benjamin Zander, Yo-Yo Ma, Marylou Speaker Churchill, Eric Rosenblith, James Buswell, Reena Esmail, Jeassy Montgomery and many more… Do you want to get to know Mei-Ann Chen? Just watch the video. If you don’t know her yet, you’ll make a great discovery. Honestly! And if you know her already, I’m sure this conversation will be a discovery for you as well! Previous “Coffee with…” guests were: the conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter and accordionist Iñaki Alberdi, the composer & music critic Robert Hugill, the bass singer & lutenist Joel Frederiksen, the conductor Cristóbal Soler, the music agent Andreea Butucariu and musicologist & cornetto player Bruce Dickey. Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium  Bruce Dickey. Foto by Foppe Schut This is the edited video of the 8th interview of the series “A Coffee With…”. On this occasion my guest was the American musicologist & cornetto player Bruce Dickey. The original “Coffee with…” took place on Thursday June 25th 2020 on my Facebook wall. It was simultaneously transmitted on Music Without Quarantine. Bruce Dickey has been living in Italy for over 40 years now. He was born in Indiana in 1949. He has worked with numerous renowned musicians, ensembles, orchestras and conductors. He is the founder of Concerto Palatino and The Breathtaking Collective along with the soprano Hana Blažíková. He also plays with the Artemisia Consort founded by his wife and long life companion, the mezzo-soprano Candace Smith. On this video, we speak about the early years of Bruce Dickey as a student and how he started playing music, first as a cornett player, then as a trumpeter, a recorder player and, finally, as one of the greatest cornetto players in the world. Bruce Dickey was teaching at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis for 40 years. We also speak about some of his projects: On the breath of angels, Nature’s secret whispering (music in the times of Johannes Kepler) or the LAMP Renassaince Academies (a teaching project at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia, Canada). If you wish to check Bruce’s extensive discography, please visit his web page: Bruce Dickey’s Discography. Previous “Coffee with…” guests were: the conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter and accordionist Iñaki Alberdi, the composer & music critic Robert Hugill, the bass singer & lutenist Joel Frederiksen, the conductor Cristóbal Soler and the music agent Andreea Butucariu. Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium
Andreea Butucariu was born in Romania where she started her musical studies. Then her family moved to Canada. There she continued to study violin and became a profesional violinist. Very early in her career as a violinist, she decided to dedicate herself to the music management. She is the director of the agency EAS Musikmanagement and the label music EaSonus. Among the artists she currently represents you can find the pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, the violinist Tai Murray or the pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout. My intention with these “virtual coffees” is to create an environment where people get to know a bit more about the artists and professionals I have my coffee with. Previous guests of the “A Coffee With…” series were the conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter, the accordionist Iñaki Alberdi, the composer and music critic Robert Hugill, the bass singer & lutenist Joel Frederiksen and the conductor Cristóbal Soler. A coffee with Andreea Butucariu Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.
Joel Frederiksen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) in 1959. In this conversation over coffee, Joel and I speak about his music projects of the past with the Waverly Consort and the Boston Camerata, about his discography and projects with the Ensemble Phoenix Munich. Among his many recordings, we speak about Orpheus, I am (2004), The Elfin Knight (2007), O felice morire (2008), Rose of Sharon (2011), Requiem for a Pink Moon (2012), which is a homage to singer-songwriter Nick Drake, Oswald von Wolkenstein (2013), with Sabine Lutzenberger and Bernd Fröhlich, Tell Me True Love (2016), Bis an der Welt ihr Ende (2017), with Per-Sonat, Marc Lewon and Baptiste Romain and Un niño nos es naçido (2018). Previous guests of the “A Coffee With…” series were the conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter, the accordionist Iñaki Alberdi and the composer and music critic Robert Hugill. Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium
Robert Hugill was born in Cleethorpes (UK) in 1955. Mainly a self-taught musician, Robert has spent over 30 decades singing and conducting choirs. He writes music reviews for several newspapers and music magazines. He also runs a highly regarded internet blog on music: Planet Hugill. In this conversation over coffee, Robert and I speak about his origins, about the choral tradition, about opera and his music writing, not only as a critic but as a composer as well. So far, Robert has premiered four operas: Garrett, When a Man Knows, The Genesis of Frankenstein, and The Gardeners. Among his CDs, I recommend to listen to The Testament of Dr Cranmer and Quickening. Previous guests of the “A Coffee With…” series were the conductor Marco Antonio García de Paz, the music critic Arturo Reverter and the accordionist Iñaki Alberdi. Robert is the first guest of this series whom I don’t know in person and I take this “virtual coffee” as an attempt to discover who Robert Hugill is and what he does… Michael Thallium Global & Greatness Coach You can also find me and connect with me on: Facebook Michael Thallium and Twitter Michael Thallium |
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This is the edited video of the virtual coffee I had with the American composer 
In many countries in the world, number 10 —lighten up, my dear British friends, I’m not talking about Downing Street— has a special meaning and people use it to commemorate events, significant anniversaries or whatever they wish to celebrate. In my case, when 
This is the edited video of the 10th interview of the series “A Coffee With…”. On this occasion my guest was the Portuguese musicologist and lutenist Hugo Sanches, who is the director of the early music ensemble 
This is the edited video of the 9th interview of the series “A Coffee With…”. On this occasion my guest was the Taiwanese-American orchestra conductor 
This is the edited video of the 7th interview of the series “A Coffee With…” This time, my guest was the Romanian music & artist manager 
This is the edited video of the fifth interview of the series “A Coffee With…” This time, my guest was the American bass singer, lutenist and early music specialist 
This is the edited video of the fourth interview of the series “A Coffee With…” This time, my guest was the British composer, journalist, blogger and lecturer